The Americans refused to supply Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft or anti-tank weapons, the former Hezbollah Secretary General, Sheikh Sobhi Tfaili, told Al Arabiya on Friday.
He confirmed that the Lebanese Shiites will have two options after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime; either Israel or the Syrian Sunnis.
The former Hezbollah leader made his comments during Al Arabiya’s weekly Noqtat Nezam (Point of Order) program, aired on Friday. He called on the Lebanese Shiite leadership to avoid adopting a policy which will lead them to choose between defeat or alliance with Israel.
Tfaili urged Hezbollah to reconsider its political position towards Syria, so it can play a constructive role against the rise of sectarian conflicts in the region, and he refused the idea that the Shiite leaders could participate in the big crime committed against the Syrian people.
“You have to reconsider your affiliation with the Syrian regime in its civil war so that you are not shocked by sectarian war in Syria and Lebanon, which could lead to an undesirable outcome. This is exactly what I said and I repeat this today and I demand they reconsider their relationship with the government – don’t join in what is going on in Syria. It is a massive crime against the Syrian people. We need to put out the fire and not be with the part that ignites it,” he said.
Tfaili denied establishing any contacts with the leaders of the Syrian opposition, noting that he only helps the “rebels” by speech and by providing shelter to the poor Syrians, declaring that Syrian minorities should not support a regime that kills its own people by planes and tanks.
“I tell the minorities that in no way is it permissible to stand by a regime that is wrecking the country with tanks, airplanes and helicopters out of fear of the possibility of being attacked,” he said.
He reminded the viewers of the statement he made at the beginning of the Syrian revolution, when he said that “Syria is heading to a war that will transform it into ashes, and that a group of Syrians will support the regime based on the fact that the regime is theirs, and these are the Alawites,” adding that the Alawites think that they can establish their own country in Syria, but this is far from becoming a reality, wishing that a political movement assumes power and governs following the Turkish model.
“I address them quietly – I wish that you would listen to me without frustration, without being offended because I am thinking of your future. An Alawite nation in Syria will not be. This is a dream that will not be realized. All Arab nations will stand against the division of Syria,” Tfaili said.
He stressed that Turkey, the Syrians and the Arabs will all oppose the partition of Syria, and that the West will not take the risk of upsetting the Arabs by accepting the partition of Syria, blaming some of the Lebanese Shiites for not interfering to promote peace and reconciliation.
According to Tfaili, what stops the war from breaking out in Lebanon is that the Sunnis feel helpless against the system of Hezbollah. He pointed out that Hezbollah should seek common ground with the forces of March 14, which didn’t try to build a state and were part of the corruption system.
He added that fractions of both sides in Syria try to turn the conflict into a religious war, advising that “we need just and democratic regimes, diversity is the people’s right in Syria, and minorities should participate in power efficiently,” and he concluded by saying that “not all the Shiites in Lebanon and Iran are followers of Hezbollah and the Iranian regime. There is a group within Hezbollah that doesn’t agree on its political positions.”
“In Syria, rest assured that despite the propaganda heard from some media outlets in the Arab world that enflames Sunni-Shiite tension -- and I tell those that if you wish for a victory for the Syrian people or the Sunnis; what you are doing is harmful, luring all the Shiite with the current political situation that affects Shiites whether they are in Iran or Lebanon,” Tfaili said.
“I tell you all and I assure you that there are influences greater than Iran against this regime. There are different currents even within Hezbollah, my brothers; the situation is not as you think. Many are worried about this politics. I hope you reconsider your letters and speeches. Don’t push people into sectarianism and internal killing and suicide,” he said.
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